Image courtesy of My Fit Foods.
When you’re looking to burn belly fat, something you might want to think about is the best method to use, and that method likely isn’t what you think. If you’re not already used to working out, you might think that workouts like crunches and sit ups that target the belly will help burn belly fat, but that isn’t exactly the case. When you want to burn belly fat, the best thing for you to do is cardio. Cardio is one of the best ways to lose belly fat, and one of the best forms of cardio you can use to burn fat is running.
Running burns fat in your body overall, and if you want to lose belly fat, it is a good idea to focus on losing fat all over. It can be tempting to want to focus on working out to slim your stomach specifically when you’re trying to lose belly fat, but it can be more beneficial to take a broader approach to losing fat for your belly, and we can explain why. So does running burn belly fat? And if so, what kind of running? And how long or often would you need to run for it to be effective?
The Best Ways to Burn Belly Fat
Eat More Protein
Something that can help burn belly fat is eating more protein. Protein can help you burn belly fat because it feeds your muscles and helps them grow. The more protein you consume, the more muscle you will build over fat. The overall calories in your body will be used more to maintain muscles over fat. The more muscles you have in comparison to fat, the more calories are used to maintain them.
Because of how much more filling protein is than other foods, the more protein you eat, the less you will have to worry about cravings as well. One reason people have a lot of issues losing weight is because they crave the foods that affect their weight most. But even if you love cake, ice cream, and fast food, you will be tempted to eat it a lot less because you will already be full from protein. Protein can boost the metabolism because of how long the body takes to digest it. The body uses calories to digest food, so the more work it has to do to digest food, the more calories you burn. Protein takes longer to digest than other foods, so your body has to spend a lot more time and calories metabolizing it, leading to fat loss over time.
Drink Fluids
When working on burning belly fat, one thing that really works is drinking lots of fluids. Liquid calories can add up, and when your fluids are mostly calorie free drinks like water, you will have less room in your stomach for more calorie dense foods. But in general, drinking fluids helps with weight loss because it helps you control your calorie intake, helps you stay regular, and helps you exercise. As long as what you are drinking doesn’t add calories to your meal, it can help keep your overall calorie intake down. Drinking enough before or during a meal will fill you up and help you eat less. You want to make sure that you have a low calorie drink for this because you don’t want to add onto the calories you are taking in during a meal.
Staying hydrated will help you exercise, which will help you lose weight in the long run, and that is of course, if you hydrate correctly. If your choice of hydration is a high calorie juice, it can throw off your calories for the day as well as give you a sugar rush. Water is a great beverage to have with you while you exercise, and sometimes it can be enhanced with just a little bit of flavor to give it something extra. You may not always be in the mood for water when you’re working out, but that shouldn’t be a problem if you know just how to enhance your water without the extra calories.
Do Cardio
Cardio that targets your whole body is the best way to go about burning belly fat. You can’t actually spot target fat loss, so there is no need to localize whatever you do to target the belly on its own. It is the best idea to focus on doing cardio that can work your whole body. There are many forms of cardio that you can do to lose belly fat. Some of them are somewhat mild and some are more strenuous. You just have to decide if you want to use the most efficient forms of cardio, the least strenuous, or a mix of all.
There are different ways to do cardio, and they all have their own specific benefits. One of the best forms of cardio is running, and that is followed by swimming, cycling, and even walking. Each of these forms of cardio burn fat all throughout the body, and that will include belly fat. The more cardio you do over time, the more belly fat you will eventually lose. You just have to make sure to go about it the right way. How much fat you lose can depend on how often you do cardio and for how long. It is best to combine it with healthy eating as well, but cardio can burn belly fat all on its own.
The Best Types of Cardio
Cardio is something you have to do on the regular to get good results, and once you have settled on your preferred type, you will then need to decide on your preferred schedule or frequency. You have to decide what is most effective for you based on your goals and time constraints, and then be realistic about the results that you hope to achieve.
Running
One of the most effective forms of cardio you can do is running. It is also one of the most popular forms of cardio. Running is something that you don’t need special equipment for. All you need is a pair of sneakers and clothes that you feel comfortable moving around in. You don’t need the gym to run effectively either. All you need to do is get dressed and run around a chosen spot. That can be at a nearby park, on a trail, or even just around the neighborhood. Running around the block is even good enough, though once you choose a location, you will need to figure out how often and how long you will need to run for the best results.
Running burns more calories than most other types of exercise, so as you run, you will burn belly fat. There are also different styles of running that you can focus on to get different results as well. There are base runs, long runs, interval runs, hill repeats, recovery runs, and progression runs. Interval runs involve short, high intensity runs with short breaks in between, hill repeats are interval runs done uphill, progression runs start off slow and build up at the end, and base runs are regular runs that last for a few short miles as opposed to long runs. You can figure out which kind gets you the best results, and which kind will have you looking forward to each upcoming run.
Cycling
Cycling is another great way to burn belly fat. Even though you can’t reduce just the fat on your belly by cycling, it doesn’t make a difference since cycling will help you burn fat all over. When you burn fat everywhere, your belly will not be left out. Unlike running, cycling requires a bit of an investment if you need to get a bike, but it is something that can last you for years to come, and can be used for transportation, exercise, and fun.
And just like running, cycling can be done in many places. You can do it around your neighborhood, on a bike trail, or on a machine at the gym. You can make sure to cycle for a few miles at a time, bike up and downhill, and even do interval training. The more you bike, the more distance you will be able to endure as well, leading to more calories and fat being burnt over time. There are even several different options to go for when picking out a bike. There are road bikes, hybrid bikes, electric bikes, and more.
Swimming
Swimming is another great way to get some cardio in. Swimming will require you to have access to a backyard, apartment, or gym pool along with a swimsuit. Swimming can do a lot to help you burn body fat and tone your arms, and aside from the usual swimming, there are other workouts that you can do in a pool. So you can always do cardio and burn fat, and work on toning your muscles as well.
Some things that you can do in a pool to burn fat and tone up are water jogging, water lunging, and moves like “the bicycle.” Water jogging is similar to jogging on land, but with much more resistance on your body from the water. It will be as if you are jogging with weights since you will have to struggle against the weight of the water. Waist deep lunges will also give you the experience of doing lunges with additional weight resistance. “The bicycle” move will involve you pedalling your legs as if you are on a bicycle under the water.
Walking
Walking is one of the least strenuous ways to get your cardio in, so if you want to burn belly fat but don’t want to burn yourself out, try walking. Walking will get you your results slower, but will still get you there nonetheless. And if you want to have the best results with walking for your cardio, it would be a good idea to walk fast. Speed walking is the best way to lose belly fat through cardio.
If you want to burn stomach fat even while you sleep, try Dr. Emil’s Bedtime Burn. It is a non-stimulant metabolism booster that will help you sleep and burn calories while you do it. It supports appetite suppression and is a sleep aid. The less you eat right before bed, the more fat your body will be able to burn overnight when you take this as well.
This supplement will calm your mind to help you fall asleep, reduce late night cravings, promote deep sleep, and of course, burn fat. The formula is made with calming ingredients and without any harsh chemicals so that you can have all the benefits without all the side effects. You can find it on Dr. Emil’s website, and at other trusted retailers like GNC, CVS, and Walmart.
Running, along with other forms of cardio reduces fat from everywhere in the body, and is overall the best way to go about losing belly fat.
